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How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

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Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#51

Post by analog31 »

Olscore wrote: post #42
oldmanjay wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are the one who said America is safe for all law-abiding citizens. One example invalidates your claim handily.

Then we can argue about the definition of safe, or the reasonable expectation of safety. But it seems that Hacker News would rather point to one example which apparently "invalidates" the claim "handily". What do you consider safe then? If you are determined to argue based on one example; Do you not take a risk starting a business? Do you not take a risk eating foods? Do you not take a risk driving? There are reasona…

If we can argue about the definition of safe, then "America is safe" is meaningless. Why don't you help us out by defining how you measure safety, and "law abiding" for that matter. Is anybody in the US rigorously law-abiding? Based on what evidence?

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#52

Post by analog31 »

kejaed wrote: post #44
throwawayosiu1 wrote: post #33

I lived in UAE for 10 years. All I can say is...it's not a "bad" place if: 1) you are working as a direct hire for any of the govt companies (Adnoc, Etisalat, etc.). 2) if not, you are contracted directly by those companies 3) if you are on contract and your visa's sponsor is good (won't take your passport on arrival, won't create issues when you need to leave, etc.) 4) If you keep your head down basically - go to wo…

Question: if "using encrypted chatting applications" is banned, can on use iMessage?

Or for that matter, HTTPS?

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#53

Post by throwawayosiu1 »

kejaed wrote: post #44
throwawayosiu1 wrote: post #33

I lived in UAE for 10 years. All I can say is...it's not a "bad" place if: 1) you are working as a direct hire for any of the govt companies (Adnoc, Etisalat, etc.). 2) if not, you are contracted directly by those companies 3) if you are on contract and your visa's sponsor is good (won't take your passport on arrival, won't create issues when you need to leave, etc.) 4) If you keep your head down basically - go to wo…

Question: if "using encrypted chatting applications" is banned, can on use iMessage?

I'm not too sure about iMessage (I was a kid when it first debuted in UAE).

But I do remember them having an outright ban on BBM (for about 3 days) till Blackberry had a local datacenter (and I believe provided the govt access to the messages - I am not sure about the details in parenthesis).

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#54

Post by hueving »

enraged_camel wrote: post #20
hueving wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The chances of you dieing from law enforcement acting in a racist manner are vanishingly small and it is still illegal. The uae condones killing people for being gay as a matter of policy. Don't expect much more than downvotes when you attempt to portray as the US being worse in that comparison.

The difference of course is that one can hide the fact that one is gay. It's not so easy to hide that one is black.

The difference of course is that one is discrimination based on law, while the other is a minority of bad actors acting illegally.

>It's not so easy to hide that one is black.

Sure it is. Wear a burka every time you are in public. This suggestion is also as ridiculous as suggesting that people hide the fact that they are gay.

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#55

Post by PostOnce »

throwawayosiu1 wrote: post #33

I lived in UAE for 10 years. All I can say is...it's not a "bad" place if: 1) you are working as a direct hire for any of the govt companies (Adnoc, Etisalat, etc.). 2) if not, you are contracted directly by those companies 3) if you are on contract and your visa's sponsor is good (won't take your passport on arrival, won't create issues when you need to leave, etc.) 4) If you keep your head down basically - go to wo…

"it's not that bad if your sponsor doesn't steal your passport"

Your employer stealing your passport is something that generally only happens in a hellhole?

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#56

Post by Olscore »

throwaway-hn123 wrote: post #47
Olscore wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Says the person using a throwaway account. So brave. May as well consider you an alt-coward, since you'll insinuate connection with the alt-right. Tit for tat, buddy.

Yes, the person using a throwaway account says that your statement is patently false. And as you attacked the only thing you could attack, I assume you know that as well, "buddy"!

Nice astro-turfing in your comment history. Remember my name buddy, I won't remember yours.

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#57

Post by [deleted] »

erlehmann_ wrote: post #2

It is not mentioned in the article, but the UAE is a country with sharia law: Flogging is a punishment for criminal offences such as adultery, premarital sex and alcohol consumption, while apostasy and homosexuality are crimes punishable by death. Amputation and crucification are legal punishments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Ara... I wonder if the author is afraid of retribution (e.g. ab…

[deleted]

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#58

Post by brokenmachine »

hueving wrote: post #54
enraged_camel wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference of course is that one can hide the fact that one is gay. It's not so easy to hide that one is black.

The difference of course is that one is discrimination based on law, while the other is a minority of bad actors acting illegally. >It's not so easy to hide that one is black. Sure it is. Wear a burka every time you are in public. This suggestion is also as ridiculous as suggesting that people hide the fact that they are gay.

> Wear a burka every time you are in public. This suggestion is also as ridiculous as suggesting that people hide the fact that they are gay.

So let me get this right:

You are comparing the ridiculousness of a black person having to wear a burka in the US to avoid being shot, versus the ridiculousness of a gay person having to hide the fact that they are gay while in the UAE?

I'm sorry, it just doesn't sound as ridiculous to me to expect someone to take care not to utter the words, "I am gay" while in a country where being gay can get you legally killed, as opposed to the ridiculousness of a black person having to wear a burka in the US to avoid being shot illegally.

Being black in the US is legal, and being shot for being a black person in the US is uncommon. The burden of having to wear a burka all the time lest your blackness be discovered is large.

Being gay in the UAE is illegal and punishable by death. The burden of not saying certain particular words to expose your gayness is small.

Ergo, the black guy having to wear a burka option is clearly more ridiculous.

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#59

Post by enraged_camel »

brokenmachine wrote: post #58
hueving wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference of course is that one is discrimination based on law, while the other is a minority of bad actors acting illegally. >It's not so easy to hide that one is black. Sure it is. Wear a burka every time you are in public. This suggestion is also as ridiculous as suggesting that people hide the fact that they are gay.

> Wear a burka every time you are in public. This suggestion is also as ridiculous as suggesting that people hide the fact that they are gay. So let me get this right: You are comparing the ridiculousness of a black person having to wear a burka in the US to avoid being shot, versus the ridiculousness of a gay person having to hide the fact that they are gay while in the UAE? I'm sorry, it just doesn't sound as ridic…

>>Being black in the US is legal, and being shot for being a black person in the US is uncommon.

That's true, although you also run the risk of being choked/tasered to death.

Re: How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People

#60

Post by xyzzy4 »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #49
xyzzy4 wrote: post #9

I'm pretty sure the UAE is obsessed with spying. Personal anecdote: I once dated a girl who's the daughter of a high ranking official (while she was in the US), and the government spied on her text messages and forced her to break up with me. At least according to her.

Elaborate on "forced"

Someone from the UAE government, possibly a relative, met up with her with a printout of all the conversations and then heavily pressured her to break up.
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